Dem lawmaker: Manafort is guilty of treason

[turbinetree]

Source: The Hill

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, on Monday alleged that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort committed treason by drafting an op-ed with a Russian associate with ties to the Kremlin.

“The nerve. At this point, let’s just call this what it is, treason,” Swalwell wrote on Twitter. “He’s out on bail in the #TrumpRussia investigation and he’s giving comfort and aid to an enemy.”



Swalwell had quoted a tweet that included screenshots of the court documents from the special counsel.

A prosecutor working on the special counsel investigation argued in court documents that Manafort’s request to be released from house arrest should be denied due to the draft op-ed.

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/house/363263-dem-lawmaker-manafort-is-guilty-of-treason

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This Manafort character / traitorous asshole needs to thrown in jail----------------then the sessions and the Pence's and Kushers's and Trumps, and anyone else can see what they are to be seeing really soon----------your Traitors

[dalton99a]

1. He should be sitting in a jail cell.

[Lulu KC]

2. Absolutely.

Lock him up. Seriously.

[Orrex]

11. Oh, come on

It's not as though he's a dangerous criminal, like a black father of three accused of a traffic violation, for instance.

[barbtries]

3. they all are.

the republicans are no friends of democracy. our country is unrecognizable to me.

[Lucky Luciano]

4. The Rosenbergs were convicted of treason...

[BumRushDaShow]

5. And both executed for it.

And my mother (who would have been 87 this year and was a poli-sci major) would remark about that every once in awhile.

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

6. They were convicted of Conspiracy to commit espionage

Not Treason. Treason is very narrowly defined and extremely hard to get a conviction for. Highly doubtful anyone will face treason charges. Now one of the various conspiracy charges, thats a different story.

[Lucky Luciano]

7. OOk... but the door is left open for the Rosenberg treatment then!

I know that won’t happen of course.

[ffr]

8. I like it when our political leaders don't mince words. Treason is treason.

[SHRED]

9. Treason?

I have been corrected in that treason requires a shooting war.

[PSPS]

10. It saddens me when a "lawmaker" doesn't know the legal meaning of the word "treason."

[Blue_Adept]

12. It's actually a case of "so what"

This is more about changing the narrative. We're being all cautious with collusion, which has the pushback of it not being a crime. But when you go with "treason" it makes it clear.

It's like the old Carlin bit about how SHELL SHOCK ends up becoming Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

We want dems to actually play the game that needs to be played in the media to get attention and change the narrative to what we want. This is how you do it.

If they're going to elect an accused serial pedophile, it's time to finally adapt more. This isn't a low road approach but a way of working the media to set the tone.

[iluvtennis]

13. I'm sure the lawmaker knows...treason was used for the effect. BTW, our laws should redefine

the word. What Russia did in the 2016 elections is Cyber warfare. And what Manafort did in the Op-Ed is media (and social media) warfare. You don't have to have firearms a'blazin to have treason. Out current laws on treason need to be re-written for the 21st century.

[bigbrother05]

14. The use of "treason" implies we're at war with Russia

It might be a bit hyperbolic, but given the way Putin and friends have attacked our democracy, it's looking like we've begun Cold War II.

eta:

As others noted, treason sets a tone. Get them to deny "treason" like they do collusion. The more the word is used, even in denial, the more it will stick in the public's mind.

The advantage of treason is that most folks understand the term and grasp the seriousness. Collusion, not so much.

[Nitram]

18. We are at war with Russia, to all intents and purposes.

A slow, quiet, behind the scenes struggle over the truth. Russia invaded the U.S. via the internet, invaded people's homes and workplaces, and worked to influence their vote in the presidential election. Or just to deepen divisions and set people at teach other's throats. They organized conflicting demonstrations pretending to be American citizens on one or the other side of a political divide. They recruited agents to secretly represent Russia's interests at the very top of the government.

I am making the point that we use words like treason and war in a non-legal sense the majority of the time, and we are not speaking to the legal aspects of the issues we discuss in those terms. Words have very different meanings in ordinary discourse than they do in legal settings.

[onenote]

20. For all intents and purposes we're not at war with Russia

Countries that are at war with one another do not maintain diplomatic relations. Countries that are at war with one another do not allow citizens to travel between the two countries. Countries that are at war with one another do not do billions of dollars in bilateral trade.

[LanternWaste]

19. What specifically leads you to believe the context was legal rather than informal usage?

What specifically leads you to believe the context was legal rather than informal usage? The court-room setting? The white wigs on magistrates? The ominous sound-track in the back-ground.

It saddens me when a "poster" doesn't take time to understand context. But I get it.. we all want to look more clever than we are, even if the attempt works in the opposite direction.

[onenote]

21. Maybe the word "guilty"?

And quoting the legal definition of treason?

[Nitram]

22. Onenote, the word guilt does not only have meaning within a legal context.

You seem to look at the world only through a legal lens.

“So full of artless jealousy is guilt,
It spills itself in fearing to be spilt.”
― William Shakespeare, Hamlet

“Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do.”
― Voltaire

“My guiding principle is this: Guilt is never to be doubted.”
― Franz Kafka

“The hardest thing about depression is that it is addictive. It begins to feel uncomfortable not to be depressed. You feel guilty for feeling happy.”
― Pete Wentz

“Maybe there's more we all could have done, but we just have to let the guilt remind us to do better next time.”
― Veronica Roth, Divergent

“I've got a bad case of the 3:00 am guilts - you know, when you lie in bed awake and replay all those things you didn't do right?
― D.D. Barant, Dying Bites

“There are two kinds of guilt: the kind that drowns you until you’re useless, and the kind that fires your soul to purpose.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes

“Guilt is not a response to anger; it is a response to one’s own actions or lack of action.”
― Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches

“(I)f we are going to be kind, let it be out of simple generosity, not because we fear guilt or retribution.”
― J.M. Coetzee, Disgrace

[onenote]

23. When combined with a legal standard, the word guilty usually is intended to convey legal meaning.

"He's guilty of being a jackass" -- use of guilty not intended in a legal sense
"He's guilty of committing treason by giving aid and comfort to the enemy" = use of guilty intended in a legal sense.

[ProfessorGAC]

25. You're Kidding Right?

The entire success of the R's over the last 3+decades is by redefining terms to send a message. We better learn to do the same or we're staring at more R success.

The narrative needs to blare "treason, treason, treason!" The legal details are lost on the majority who know what it is and don't much care what the narrow definition is, legally.

We have got to get the majority of americans to stop thinking of this as "nothing". The word treason will get the attention of some of them.

[Nitram]

29. Exactly, Prof!

We need to use words that strike on the gut level. Treason! In this war for hearts and minds there is no time for the technicalities of legalese. We'll leave that to the courts.

[Javaman]

15. I thought the concept of "treason" was only applicable during the time of war, no? nt

[ProfessorGAC]

26. See Post 25

The legalese is not as important and shifting the narrative away from "the Russia thing is nothing" for the general public.

[Javaman]

28. I see your point...

I don't completely agree with it, but I understand what your saying.

so yeah, treason...(say with a weak cry and a loose fist in the air)

[Gothmog]

16. Agreed

[paleotn]

17. When most folks violate the terms of their bail...

they get sent to jail. I guess Manafort isn't most people.

[bluestarone]

24. this i agree with

along with losing his property! BUT that won't happen til he misses his court date!

[INdemo]

27. Elizabeth Warren / Eric Swalwell.... 2020